I have an '03 R50 and I'm looking into upgrading my HU. I have a base car, so no HK HU or nav. My dad got a new HU in his old Volkswagen and it sounds great with the stock speakers. I definitely want HD Radio, and Bluetooth would be a huge plus for me. I checked on Crutchfield and the only HU that exists with both is pretty ugly. Does something like this exist? My budget is around $200 but I'd go higher if it was reasonable.

 

Not much help here but is HD radio really worth it?

 

From my experience, if Crutchfield doesn't have anything you like, it doesn't exist.

 

In my experience, it has great sound. My dad put a Kenwood HU in his '98 VW and the sound was impressive, with the stock speakers. Sounded like garbage with the original HU

 

I just got this one:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158BT57...U.html?tp=5684

From the research I have done, with the vendors that I want to use, it has been difficult to find a true BT (with A2DP which is what it takes to stream music, not just do the voice thingy) and a true HD built in receiver. This was as close as I could get in the $200 price range. Then I had to get an HD tuner for it for another hundred or so, but it was worth it to me for down the road.
Oh, and I had a couple of other criteria that needed to be met, MFSW, RCA outputs w/subwoofer output.
Is this the one you thought was ugly? Never thought of that, but beauty wasn't a criteria for me.

 

Well I'm looking for a headunit that has both HD radio and Bluetooth without needing addons. I only came across one on Crutchfield. However, I don't need one with the advanced BT features... I'm only interested in using it for my cell phone to take voice calls.

 

I think you are going to find that HU's today come with a good collection of BT profiles. And for using your cell phone, you really need several of them. In other words, I don't think you will find any HU with, say, just the Headset profile, and not the Handsfree profile too.

If you find a HU you like except it has like the A2DP profile too, I would just go with it. It is really not a waste if you simply never use it.

 

I found a Clarion VZ709 on CL for around $200. Installed it. It has BT (A2DP, Voice, etc) and Nav (with optional Nav installed). It has a 7" flip up display that slightly obstructs the bottom half of the speedo. Runs awesome, and BT music is excellent. Also has USB interface for thumbdrive, or Ipod/Iphone interface. It will even wire into the stock steering controls with the right PAC SWI controller interface.
I just wanted you to know that if you find something that is a single DIN with a 7" fold out display, it will fit, but cover part of the speedo.

 

Does anyone have any experience with JVC brand head units? They seem to be the only company that allows you to change the color of the LCD screen... their HU does a very convincing orange that matches the rest of the LCDs in the Mini. Every other company does white/blue LEDs which just makes the car feel like rice. Plus, blue lights bother me at night.

 

I have a double DIN Kenwood in my Mustang, and it allows you to change the LED back lighting, the LCD screen background, and the Menu soft button colors (its "theme").

 

Clarion is the same, for the background, there are wallpapers that closely match the amber interior. And for the buttons, they are normally white, but are lit by a light bar behind the removable faceplate. I colored the lens to the light bar amber, and all of the buttons are now amber.

 

i'd go Kenwood KIV BT900, has both bluethooth and Hd Radio all controlled by headunit. just got mine installed yesterday, best headunit thus far for me. just go the extra $100 and get everything your look for, plus.

 

Alpine iDAX305Sbt. Awesome multimedia unit, I have it installed in my 04 R50 and love it.